PHILADELPHIA — A day after several media outlets ran quotes by Roy Halladay under headlines that accused him of being approving of the firing of Charlie Manuel, the rehabbing right-hander called writers around in the Phillies’ dugout prior to Wednesday’s game with the Rockies to both clarify his remarks and chide outlets for using yellow journalism to sensationalize what he considered a general critique of what has gone wrong for the 2013 Phils.

“I felt like what was said necessarily wasn’t written,” Halladay said. “And I just want to make it well known that I have a lot of respect for Charlie. There were some articles put out that offended me, and I’m sure offended Charlie. And I called him (Wednesday) and talked to him about it.

“I loved playing for him. He was a great manager. Everybody here loved him. The players loved him. And he was a lot of the reason they won the World Series here. I just want to make that point clear.”

The quotes that led to a great deal of scrutiny, as reported by several media outlets who were in Lakewood, N.J., for Halladay’s rehabilitation start Tuesday night, spoke about changes Ryne Sandberg implemented upon taking over as interim manager last week.

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“From what I’ve seen, Ryne came in and made some changes and addressed some issues that I think were being overlooked,” said Halladay to most of the media members in attendance for the game. “From that standpoint, as much as I miss Charlie, I think Ryne is going to do a good job, and I think he’s going to bring back a little more of the Phillie baseball style that we’ve had the last couple of years.

“We really haven’t had that whole team effort and that whole team hustle that I think we’ve had in the prior years … I think (Sandberg) has been very good so far. But again, and I don’t want to take away anything from Charlie, we all respected him tremendously, and I think he’s going to have a choice of what he wants to do next.”

While it seemed Halladay tried to cover his tracks when it came to having his comments misconstrued, that clearly didn’t happen considering the uproar.

“I was also trying to say that I feel like if there was somebody that’s going to replace a guy like that then it’s going to be a Ryne Sandberg type of person with the experience that he carries and everything else,” Halladay said Wednedsay. “I really felt like a lot was lost in translation with respect to Charlie. I just want to make that clear.

“I don’t endorse any manager’s firing. The players get managers fired. Any time a manager is fired as a player you feel like you haven’t done your job.”

Halladay, who said he has been in regular contact with Manuel, called him Wednesday morning to make sure he wasn’t taken aback by the headlines and talk-radio chatter.

“I talked to Charlie and we’re good,” said Halladay, who will make his third minor-league rehab start in Reading Sunday. “I wanted him to know that I really enjoyed playing for him and as far as managers have gone, he’s the best I’ve ever been around. I really enjoyed the time with him.

“At the same token I look forward to working with Ryne, too ... I think I saw one title that said I ‘endorsed’ the firing of Charlie Manuel, and that really bothered me.